Indifferent (HS)

17. Tongue Twisted

CHAPTER 17:

SKYLAR'S POV

I sipped my white wine celebrating the beautiful Christmas tree I bought and managed to set up. Something told me Harry would keep putting it off so with a car I figured I could do it myself. I admired each ornament that was reflecting the light. Some were shiny and some had a tint of shimmer. It was classy, sticking with a red color scheme. I've never been one to do bright pink and orange ornaments on the Christmas tree. 

Sometimes Mom and Dad would let me put up tacky ornaments I made in first grade; it made the tree more personable and not so catalogue.  The stringed lights lit up the room and the wood crackled under the fire in the fireplace. Checking my  phone, it was already 10 and Harry was still recording I presumed. I cooked dinner for us but after an hour of it sitting on the stove, I gave up. Leftovers would have to suffice. 

I finished up some small tasks like signing up for the management class at the University of London and doing some laundry. I felt like a bored housewife. Roaming around the house, I realized I haven't seen most of the rooms. It was a good sized house, but not obnoxious. 

The wine gave me a fuzzy warm feeling in my stomach and I genuinely felt happy. Yes my circumstances made a huge difference, but I was so thankful and actually still in shock Harry was so adamant about taking me in. There has to be some rule about that somewhere that celebrities really shouldn't do that. 

The hall that held Harry and I's rooms also had three other doors. The first one was just another guest room. The second was an office with awards and records hanging from his success with One Direction. The third was full of half opened boxes. Random knick knacks where spread everywhere. No furniture accompanied the room, it was just stuff. I flipped the light switch on and started snooping. 

That feeling of panic washed over me as I set my glass down on the hard wood floor. Harry could come home any second. He probably wouldn't be okay with this. But I was so curious. I was reminded of when I was a child and I knew what I was doing was wrong, but the punishment seemed worth it. Not that Harry would punish me. Hmm kinky. My subconscious mocked me. I giggled to myself. 

My eyes scanned the inside of each box, there were about five. I picked up a worn out book and opened it to find so many pages of pictures of Harry when he was a baby. I was in awe. He surprisingly had very blonde hair and blue eyes. My heart grew fonder with every page I turned. Reflecting on the time I've known him, he really is amazing. 

Setting the book down, I fiddled through some year books, trophies, but what caught my eye immediately was a folded picture at the bottom of the box. The edges were starting to separate and the color had faded. It was Harry maybe mid teen years with his arm wrapped around a blonde haired girl, kissing her on the cheek. Both had glowing smiles and squinty eyes. I wondered who she was. 

A knock on the door frame sobered me up immediately. I gasped, dropping the picture while my eyes landed on a very sad looking Harry. His eyes were red and bloodshot as if he had been crying and his hair was tugged in every possible way due to stress. 

"What are you doing?" He didn't seem mad or anything, really his voice sounded defeated and dull. A weight creeped in on my chest and it felt as if someone was pressing me up against a wall and I couldn't breath. I knew I shouldn't have dug around in his stuff. 

"I-I'm sorry I was just- um I was-" I mumbled nervously fiddling with the seam of my shirt hoping he wouldn't yell or scold me. 

"It's okay" I'm glad he sensed my nervousness and didn't make things worse. He walked over to me and picked up the picture off the ground. "This was my high school girlfriend before One Direction started. Her name was Anya and she transferred to my school from Russia"

"She's gorgeous, what- um I mean how long were you guys together?" My words continued to get tripped up and for the first time I felt nervous standing next to this tall handsome man with a soft heart and gentle voice. They say your pupils grow immensely when you stare at someone you're fond of and in this moment I think that was happening to me. 

"I left for auditions and never came back to a normal life" He sighed folding it back up and setting it on a book. Walking towards the door he picked up my glass handing it to me with an amused smirk on his face. Yes I will blame the alcohol for going through his things. 

"Oh" A long moment of silence passed while I fought to find the words to say something else. 'Oh' is such a lame response to a breakup story. Thankfully Harry spoke.

"So how did you manage to do the whole tree by yourself?" We walked downstairs falling on the couch. 

"Determination and boredom" I laughed taking another sip. He smiled faintly and I wondered what else was on his mind. He seemed like a child who was lost and missed his mom. I felt the urge to cuddle up to him and hold him for whatever was making him sad. Taken aback by my sudden feelings, I set my glass on the coffee table and shifted closer to him. "Is everything okay?" 

"It's over" He muttered lifelessly. My heart rate jumped.

"What do you mean?" His eyes met mine and up close I could see the pain forming into tears.

"The band. One Direction. We're burnt out" Even though I wasn't a fangirl, this news was so shocking. Millions of questions and concerns flooded my brain.

"But how? I thought things were going fine" I was uncomfortable trying to offer support and comfort. I haven't had to do this much recently to another human besides myself. 

"They weren't but we were just pretending for months that it would work itself out, but today we had an ultimatum and it was impossible. No one has the energy or can collectively agree on anything. We've already kept the fans waiting for another album, but it just isn't there" My thumb reached up to his cheekbone swiping the tear away. Our eyes locked this time and there was a different energy that I couldn't quite pinpoint. 

"I'm sorry I know that can't be easy" My hand fell to his shoulder and time seemed to slow down. I never intentionally acted like this with him before, but suddenly I didn't want to break contact. 

"It's not but in a way I knew this is where it was heading months ago so now it's just more real" He sniffled and ran his hand through his hair. "Anyway what else did you do today?"

"I had a job interview, got a car, a credit card, scheduled a class at UL, and cooked dinner" I smiled full of energy. 

"Yeah I saw the car and wow a job interview? Where?" 

"Tarte cosmetics but I have to get one more class under my belt before they can consider me" I rolled my eyes thinking back to the judgmental lady conducting my Interview. He nodded tiredly. "Are you hungry? I have meatballs and spaghetti in the fridge"

"That sounds perfect I'm starving" Harry rested his head on the couch and I felt his eyes following me as I left the living room. 

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so sorry for the confusing chapters I'm trying to rewrite this whole story basically to make it better for y'all but its been four years so I'm a little rusty, please be patient. thank you so much for your love and support:)